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A fermentation logTue, 14 Aug 2018 21:42:15 +0000enhourly1http://wordpress.com/https://s0.wp.com/i/buttonw-com.pngthecrookedspinehttps://thecrookedspine.wordpress.com
6.24.2015https://thecrookedspine.wordpress.com/2015/06/24/6-24-2015/
https://thecrookedspine.wordpress.com/2015/06/24/6-24-2015/#respondWed, 24 Jun 2015 19:20:00 +0000http://thecrookedspine.wordpress.com/?p=232As the summer has heated, I pushed back trying my hand at brewing in lager styles. I had really enjoyed the yeast notes from WLP530 in a starter I made a while back, and wanted to brew something to showcase those. Decided on a fairly simple Saison.

Saison II

Style: Belgian Saison

Recipe:

(lbs/%/malt)

8.5/78/2-Row

1.0/9/Vienna

1.0/9/Turbinado

0.25/2/60L Crystal

0.25/2/Acid malt

(oz/time/variety)

0.5/60/Columbus

1.5/15/Saaz

2.0/1/Saaz

White Labs WLP530

Stats: SRM 5, IBUs 29, ABV 5.9% (Est. O.G. 1.058)

In hindsight, I really enjoyed the drinkability, but might opt to switch the base malt to a pilsner malt and mash a bit lower, also maybe adding some rye to the grist, the beer could stand to be a touch drier, it failed to really sizzle on the tongue, even when carbonated to fairly high levels. Next time!

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https://thecrookedspine.wordpress.com/2015/05/16/5-16-2015/#respondSat, 16 May 2015 19:18:00 +0000http://thecrookedspine.wordpress.com/?p=230Brewed an amber ale, this is maybe the 3rd iteration of this one. Nothing fancy, just trying to hone it in a bit more (note after drinking: this didn’t hone, not a bad beer, but not my favorite recipe…)

Young Americans III

Style: American Amber

Recipe:

(lbs/%/malt)

8.0/68/2-Row

2.0/17/Munich

1.25/10/Crystal 60L

0.125/1/Black Barley

0.25/2/Acid Malt (for mash pH)

(oz/time/variety)

0.6/60/Simcoe

1.0/05/Simcoe

1.0/05/Willamette

Am. Ale yeast (US-05)

Stats: SRM 16, IBUs 35, ABV 6.5% (Est. O.G. 1.058, measured 1.058)

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https://thecrookedspine.wordpress.com/2015/04/25/4-25-2015/#respondSat, 25 Apr 2015 16:49:55 +0000http://thecrookedspine.wordpress.com/?p=228I like a good IPA as much as the next guy, but I feel as if I am perhaps unfairly critical of the style. Decided to brew something new to me, a honey wheat IPA. Seemed like a good summer beer.

Honey Wheat IPA

Style: American IPA

Recipe:

(lbs/%/malt)

8.0/65.3/2-Row

3.0/24.5/White Wheat

0.75/6.1/Honey Malt

0.5/4.1/Acid Malt (for mash pH)

(oz/time/variety)

1.0/60/Columbus

0.5/10/Columbus

1.0/10/Centennial

0.5/1/Columbus

1.0/1/Centennial

2.0/Keg Hop/Columbus

3.0/Keg Hop/Centennial

Am. Ale yeast (US-05)

Stats: SRM 5, IBUs 66, ABV 7.0% (Est. O.G. 1.062, measured 1.063)

Notes:

4.5 Gallons strike @161, mashed 1 hour @149F. 4 gallons sparge water.

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https://thecrookedspine.wordpress.com/2015/04/18/4-18-2015/#respondSat, 18 Apr 2015 16:43:00 +0000http://thecrookedspine.wordpress.com/?p=226Decided that I wasn’t ready to let go of wintery beers, and brewed up a coffee stout. I’ve brewed several american stouts and oat stouts, but have never done anything with coffee before, and it seemed like a fitting evening beer for hanging out on a crisp spring evening. The recipe includes some oats for body, and plenty of dark roasted malts, as well as a fair kick of columbus for bitterness (though not too much…), I made a ripping big starter, probably bigger than necessary but I was a little unsure about the strength of the saved yeast I used, so aimed a bit bigger than typical.

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https://thecrookedspine.wordpress.com/2015/04/05/4-5-2015/#respondMon, 06 Apr 2015 04:18:00 +0000http://thecrookedspine.wordpress.com/?p=218Decided to brew another iteration of the pale I brewed a couple weeks ago (here). I thought the Vienna contribution was a little over the top, so toned it back a touch, also moved to a more moderate hop schedule. I liked the Citra, but thought it was a bit one dimensional. Will see how this works out!

Pale III

Style: American Pale Ale

Recipe:

(lbs/%/malt)

8.0/80/2-Row

1.5/15/Vienna

0.5/5/Crystal 60L

(oz/time/variety)

0.5/60/Columbus

0.5/5/Amarillo

1.0/5/Willamette

Am. Ale yeast (1056)

Stats: SRM 6.8, IBUs 31.8, ABV 5.0% (Est. O.G. 1.049, measured 1.050)

Notes:

4.4.15 Made 1 liter starter using 1056, strong fermentation overnight, should be good

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https://thecrookedspine.wordpress.com/2015/04/04/4-4-2015/#respondSat, 04 Apr 2015 16:46:55 +0000http://thecrookedspine.wordpress.com/?p=215Another english beer! This weekend, trying an ESB. I’ve had mixed luck with the style historically, from lackluster to really tasty, most notably a Challenger heavy ESB on the really tasty end. After some promising hop flavors from the brown I brewed two weeks ago, I figured I’d try out Target in an ESB.

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https://thecrookedspine.wordpress.com/2015/03/15/3-15-2015/#respondSun, 15 Mar 2015 16:32:00 +0000http://thecrookedspine.wordpress.com/?p=213More taps to fill! The lack of availability of reasonable English styles here, particularly on draft, has me motivated to try and keep some of that sort of thing around. Took a stab at a Northern English Brown this time around!

F.G. 1.016, kegged 4.1.15, near perfect vol. into keg. Initial tasting has me thinking a slightly more assertive hop presence might help, but I think proper carbonation should help. Noticed a fair amount of yeast still in suspension, maybe start cold crashing before I keg, have to remember.

]]>https://thecrookedspine.wordpress.com/2015/03/15/3-15-2015/feed/0thecrookedspineAway day, Belgian stylehttps://thecrookedspine.wordpress.com/2015/03/12/away-day-belgian-style/
https://thecrookedspine.wordpress.com/2015/03/12/away-day-belgian-style/#respondThu, 12 Mar 2015 16:13:00 +0000http://thecrookedspine.wordpress.com/?p=210Got after another brewing away day at a friend’s place. The target was another iteration of a belgian tripel, after a previous attempt that possessed pretty rough yeast character (Safebrew Abbaye ale probably won’t be my go-to for much of anything).

Took a pretty simple approach to the style, hoping to let the White labs 530 (abbey ale-I think from Westmalle) bring it’s yeast profile to the table. Brew was relatively painless once we got all the parts rounded up, here is a recipe:

Belgian Tripel

Style: Belgian strong ale

Recipe:

(lbs/%/malt)

10.5/65/Pilsner

2.5/15/Munich Malt

2.0/12/Rye Malt

1.0/6/White Corn Sugar

(oz/time/variety)

0.75/60/Chinook

1.0/20/Saaz

1.0/05/Saaz

Stats: SRM 6, IBUs 33, 8.3% ABV

Notes:

3.10.2015: prepared 1.4L started, 1.035 gravity (5.5 oz DME) w/ WLP530-Abbey ale, starter had some really interesting yeast notes, maybe pear-ish, complex. Aimed to compliment that with a little rye spice. Saved some of the starter and stepped it back up to save, ended up with 3 vials.

3.12.2015: Brewed, ended up a little short on volume, but after distilled water dilution, should have hit right about the intended 1.082 o.g.

3.27.2015: Bottled, tasted good going into the bottle, curious to see how it matures.

I’ve had reasonable success with the Westmalle abbey strain from Wyeast and White labs. Glad to have saved a pretty big dose of the stuff using a new method I’ve stumbled upon, I’m hoping to brew a moderately hoppy, yeast-heavy belgian small beer in the near future.

Kegged 3.16.15, US-05 took much longer to drop bright than I recall, Probably won’t keep up with it. Need a new American strain to keep around…

]]>https://thecrookedspine.wordpress.com/2015/03/07/3-7-2015/feed/0thecrookedspine1.16.2014https://thecrookedspine.wordpress.com/2014/02/16/1-16-2014/
https://thecrookedspine.wordpress.com/2014/02/16/1-16-2014/#respondSun, 16 Feb 2014 20:41:33 +0000http://thecrookedspine.wordpress.com/?p=203Just the other day I noticed the potential for a beer shortage approaching, thus, decided it was a good plan to pull the trigger on a brew session today. After procuring a large cup of coffee, I set about the house in search of inspiration, which came in the form of unused hops in the freezer, which I can’t bring myself to throw out. As such, the hop bill on today’s brew was a bit less organized than I’m accustomed to, but I decided to throw in the kitchen sink and brew up sizable amber IPA, hoping to showcase the over-ripe tropical fruit profile of NZ Galaxy with some balance from various american varieties.

Beamsplitter amber IPA

Predicted O.G. 1067, F.G. 1012

13 SRM, ~65 IBU’s

Grist:

2-Row pale malt (Malteurop)-70%

Light munich-25%

Crystal 80L-4%

Pale Chocolate-1%

Hops:

@60 min, 1.25 oz Nugget

@5 min, 1oz Centennial, 1oz Galaxy, 0.5oz Zeuss

@1 min, 1oz Centennial, 1oz Williamette, 1 oz Galaxy

Dry Hop: 1 oz Centennial, 2 oz Galaxy (7days)

Yeast: US-05

Given my druthers, I think I would have opted for columbus in place of the Nugget, Williamette and Zeuss, and added some in the dry hop, but none in the fridge, so this is what I’ve got.